Red Bull

As a colourblind person, colours often intrigue me. Many a times I have heard people ask a lot of different questions on color. Even I have had some very interesting doubts regarding colour. One of the most famous questions that circles around the net is:

Why Do Bulls Charge When they See Red?

Generally, when people are asked to imagine a scene of bull fighting, the mind conjures a common image: An angry bull charging at a matador’s small red cape. But do bulls really charge at the cloth because of its colour?

The short answer is no. Bulls (just like me and 8% of other males all around the world) are red-green colourblind. Bulls don’t really care about the colour of the cloth that they chase. They chase at the moving cloth. Movement is what triggers the bull to go after the cloth.

A wonderful set of experiments carried out by the mythbusters showed this. First, they put up stationary flags of different colours (red, blue, and white) on the bull’s enclosure. The bull charged at all three of them without discrimination. Next, they put three dummies (again red, blue, and white) on the ring along with the bull. The bull again didn’t show any discrimination while charging at them.

Finally, they put up three people on the ring with the bull. One standing there dressed in red. Two other couwboys (not in red) and running around the ring. Unsurprisingly, the bull chased the two cowboys and didn’t bother about the red “target” in the ring.

Now that we are clear on why the bulls charge at the matador’s cape (called the muleta). Here’s something to ponder: Why is the muleta red anyways?